Issue link: http://summerguide.uberflip.com/i/1535299
Sandwich's GLASS BLOWING Legacy Originally settled by the English in 1637, Sandwich (the Cape's oldest town) became an agricultural community; its main export was timber sent back to England. Even during the American Revolution, it remained a primarily agrarian community, supplemented by coastal fishing. But in 1825, the landscape of Sandwich drastically changed when Deming Jarves, a Boston business- man who had worked in the glass industry in Cambridge, MA, chose to open the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company in Sandwich because of its proximity to a shallow harbor. The local timber could be used to fuel the glass furnaces; the salt marsh hay and grasses could be used for packing material. Jarves hoped a canal would be built through Cape Cod that would allow for the shipment of his wares. Designing and producing dec- orative glass, household windows, doorknobs, plates, lamps, and even toys, the Sandwich Glass Museum served as a pioneer in the art of glassmaking. Jarves typically hired his staff from Europe because of their talent and craftsmanship as glassmakers. His company focused on producing quality pieces of glass and became quite properous; at one time, it was the considered theworld's largest glass produer. At its height, the factory employed hundreds of men, women and children in the various processes of glass making and decoration. An entire community grew around the factory, incoporating all of the factory buildings ... the workers' housing ... the mercantile and other support buildings. Blown and cut glass Lamp ca. 1850-67 Collection of e Met, NYC View of Sandwich Glassworks www.summerguidecapecod.com 32